The Lady Bisons soccer team had numerous opportunities to score but failed to capitalize on them against USC Upstate, as a long distance goal proved to be the difference as the Spartans edged Lipscomb 1-0, Sunday at the County University Soccer Stadium.

With the loss, Lipscomb falls to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in the Atlantic Sun, while the win improves USC Upstate to 3-8 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.

“Today was a very frustrating game,” Lady Bisons coach Jon Ireland said. “I thought we completely dominated the game but we failed to score on the multiple chances that we had on the offensive end. Give USC Upstate credit, they did what they had to, to win the game. Their goalkeeper made two or three incredible saves.”

The first-half ended in a scoreless tie as both teams posted four shots and two corner kicks in the opening period.

With the game still a scoreless draw, the Spartans broke the ice in the 70-minute mark when Jessica Jackrya’s shot from the right side from 35-yards out somehow found the top left corner of the net to give the Spartans the lead.

With 20 minutes left in the game, the Lady Bisons turned up the heat in the final 20 minutes but failed to counter the Spartans’ goal. Lipscomb outshot USC Upstate 6-2 in the final period, including 5-1 in shots on goal.

The Lady Bisons led nearly every statistically category including shots (10-6), shots-on-goal (8-3) and corner kicks (8-3). Danielle Bethke led the Lady Bisons with three shots, including two on frame.

“It’s frustrating when you give up a cheap goal and then fail to score on the other end when we had opportunities too,” Ireland said.

Despite the loss, the coaching staff did see some positives on Sunday.

“We dominated the game in a lot of phases today.” Our defense and midfield played well, we just need more production out of our offensive attack.”

The Lady Bisons will be in action next Saturday night when they play host to Campbell at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex. The game will start at 7 p.m.